1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a retractor in which when the seat occupant wears webbing, the force in a take-up direction applied to the webbing is reduced so that any excessive pressure force is not applied to the wearer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in a retractor, a biasing force of considerable strength in a take-up direction is applied to a webbing take-up shaft in the retractor in order to cause webbing drawn out for wearing to be taken up on the take-up shaft after its use. Therefore, even when the webbing is worn by the seat occupant, a strong biasing force in the take-up direction is applied to the webbing to thereby apply a considerable pressure force to the wearer, and this gives the wearer an uncomfortable feeling which forms a cause for the seat occupant to be unwilling to wear the seat belt in spite of the fact that wearing the seat belt is desirable in ensuring the safety of the seat occupant.
To solve this problem, it has been proposed to provide the retractor with a take-up force reducing device which negates a part of webbing biasing means so as not to act on the take-up shaft when the seat occupant wears the webbing and which causes that part of the webbing biasing means to be again effective when the webbing is to be taken up on the retractor. In this method, however, when one tries to draw out the webbing during the wearing of the webbing during which the reducing device is operating, the reducing device acts as a resistance against the draw-out of the webbing, and this considerably hampers free movement of the seat occupant when he wears the webbing.